Spiritual Electric Shock Therapy — Dappled Things

Spiritual Electric Shock Therapy — Dappled Things: Why today’s writers need G. K. Chesterton

Narnia Is for More Than Kids

 

I came across this meme on Facebook. It reminded me of not only Lewis, but, or course, Chesterton, who was a stanch supporter of good children's literature.

I did not have the pleasure of encountering Lewis as a child. I had heard of him, but he was not on the curriculum in my elementary or high schools.

When I was 19, I discovered a set of the Narnia stories in an apartment in New York City I was allowed to stay in for a while (that's another story!)  I borrowed them, and read them all in just a week. I credit them with helping to restore my faith and returning me to the Church from which I had strayed. I read them at the same time as I first read Chesterton's St. Francis and St. Augustine's Confessions, two other works that spoke to me at a time when I need to encounter such works.

Since then, I've gone back and reread all the Narnia stories, and even required The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as summer reading when I taught middle school.

They are more than just children's stories. They teach life lessons, and prepare children - on in my case, child-like 19-year-olds - to face cruel enemies, including, in my case, worldly temptation. 

In them, we see seeming defeats turned to victory, feats of courage, former enemies and perpetrators of evil repenting and finding salvation, and, sadly, people we love turning away (like Susan). Reality. 

One of my favorite scenes is in The Last Battle. Seemingly on the verge of defeat by the Calormines, the followers of Aslan are able to enter "further up and further in," and with them is Emeth, a Calormine. Aslan tells him that his service to a false god, Tash, done sincerely, obeying the natural moral laws (though that term is not used) was actual.y service to Aslan. The lesson is that even seeming enemies, those who follow false beliefs, can be saved. As adults, we can understand that means people of different faiths may find their way into eternity if they honestly follow the promptings of their hearts.

There are so many more lessons in the books. They are children's stories, yes, but they prepare the children to face life and to know they will defeat the forces of darkness in the end. 

That certainly was a good lesson for a certain 19-year-old who was adrift.

A Political Clerihew - Letitia James

 

NY AG Letitia James
was fond of targeting political foes with legal games.
In a twist, this time
she's the target, and there is an actual crime.

Jules Verne

 

Today, February 8, is the 196th birthday of Jules Verne. Happy birthday. 

Verne, of course, gave us such works of fantasy and science fiction as Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, and Around the World in Eighty Days.

I don't know if Chesterton wrote much about Verne. In the essay "The Domesticity of Detectives", he did mention Verne when discussing French writers.

"Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, for instance, both wrote fairy-tales of science; Mr. Wells has much the larger mind and interest in life; but he often lacks one power which Jules Verne possesses supremely—the power of going to the point. Verne is very French in his rigid relevancy; Wells is very English in his rich irrelevance." 

Perhaps Chesterton did write more about Verne. Perhaps some more knowledgeable person could offer some wisdom?  

As for me, I have read some Verne - Journey to the Center of the Earth, From Earth to the Moon, and a children's version of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - but I have read far more of Wells's science fiction, and I prefer what I have read of his works.

Still, it might be worth giving Verne some attention - after I finish some of the books currently in my "To Read" pile.

At least I should start with a full version of Twenty Thousand Leagues.